The Last Jew from Drohobych Alfred Schreyer - rosdy film kg

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Alfred Schreyer and Tadeusz Serwatka Alfred and Ludmila Schreyer, 1950 Alfred SchreyerSYNOPSISThe Last Jew from Drohobych is the story of AlfredSchreyer - in his own words - the only surviving pre-WWII Jewish resident in this Western Ukraine town. Inthe 1930s, Schreyer was a student of the eminent Polishwriter, Bruno Schulz. During the Nazi occupation he survivedforced labor and concentration camps. He returnedhome – after the war – alone. Schreyer became asinger and violinist in a local Cinema Lobby Orchestra,which was – until 1963 – a truly unique Soviet traditionin cinema culture. Today, Alfred Schreyer is living history;his life story chronicles a century in Drohobychcaught between tragedy and resilience.ALFRED SCHREYERAlfred Schreyer was born on May 8th, 1922 in Drohobych,which was then in Poland, now Western Ukraine.His mother, Leontina, was a pharmacist. His father,Benno, had a doctorate from the University of Zurichand was a chief chemist at an oil refinery. Both were verymusical and Alfred learned to play the cello. Later, inhigh school, he was a student of the now world famouswriter and painter, Bruno Schulz. Schreyer graduatedfrom high school in 1940, during the first Soviet occupation.He earned his first 80 rubles in a vocal quartet thatwas part of the Soviet culture brigades.After the entry of the German Army (June 1941), five forcedlabour camps were established in Drohobych. AlfredSchreyer worked as an assistant in the carpentry workshopin the village of Herafka. The family had to leavetheir home and move into the ghetto. In the first „action“,320 Jews were assembled and then shot in the BronizaWoods. More actions followed and on August 5, 1942,the largest action began, in which 5,000 Jews from Drohobychwere deported to Belzec and gassed. Amongthem was Schreyer’s father, an uncle, a grandmotherand an aunt.In 1943, three forced labor camps were liquidated all onone day. Eleven thousand Jews from Drohobych and itssurroundings were shot in the Broniza Woods.Schreyer’s mother was among them. Because he wasyoung and strong, Schreyer was forced to work in thecamp Ceramic Workshop and then, after its closure, atthe Carpathian Oil Corporation, the last forced laborcamp in Drohobych. On April 13, 1944, all forced laborers,due to the advance of the Soviets forces, were evacuatedto the concentration camp Plaszow near Krakow.Alfred Schreyer was moved to Groß-Rosen, Buchenwald,and finally Taucha near Leipzig, where suddenly one daythe prisoners were told: March. March without a goal.This was the so-called death march. Schreyer survived byhis wits and good luck. He was in Freiberg, Sachsen,when the war ended, and on May 7 (one day beforeSchreyer’s birthday) at 7 am the first Soviet tank droveinto town.Alfred Schreyer had the opportunity to emigrate toArgentina, because an aunt and an uncle emigratedthere in 1937. But when he saw the barracks of the RedCross in Berlin, where he would have had to stay foranother two or three months, he decided spontaneouslyto return to Drohobych.Nothing was left of Schreyer’s former life in Drohobych,but he found a home in the local Cinema Lobby Or-
Alfred Schreyer in the Choral (Great) Synagogue of DrohobychThe market in the center of Drohobychchestra. When he sung the Soviet classic, In the City Park,by Matvey Blanter, a woman named Ludmila asked himfor the lyrics. They married on January 5, 1949. Work inthe Cinema Lobby Orchestra lasted for 16 years. But onJanuary 10, 1963, Khrushchev cut funding to the CinemaLobby Orchestras, and they were abolishedthroughout the Soviet Union. Alfred Schreyer workedfor 42 years as a music teacher in the Music School ofthe city of Drohobych.Today Alfred Schreyer is a local phenomenon, whosestory reveals what it means to survive the 20th century’sworst atrocities, and still not lose one’s optimism. TheLast Jew from Drohobych is the portrait of an exceptionalperson, whose experiences – both good and bad – tella rare story of returning to a destroyed homeland andrebuilding one’s life.THE CITY OF DROHOBYCHDrohobych was founded about 900 years ago, due tothe salt found in the region. Today Drohobych is a city ofabout 80,000 people, approximately 90 kilometerssouthwest of Lviv, and mostly inhabited by Ukrainians.According to Alfred Schreyer, there are only about 1,250Poles and 65 Jews left in Drohobych. Schreyer is the lastsurviving pre-WWII Jewish resident. Between the twowars, Drohobych counted about 42,000 inhabitants:one third Poles; one third Ukrainians; and a third Jews.The Second World War brought huge turmoil. Five thousandJews were transported to Belcez and gassed, another11,000 were shot in the Broniza Woods. The Polesescaped or were chased away and Ukrainians fromnearby villages settled in the town.After the partition of Poland in 1772, the city was part ofthe Austrian Crown land, Galicia. From 1918 to 1939 itbelonged again to Poland. In the fall of 1939, the Naziscame but withdrew, in compliance with the Hitler/StalinPact (August 1939), and were replaced by the Soviets.They stayed until June 1941, but then withdrew againstthe Nazi aggression, which led to the destruction of theJews in Drohobych. In August 1944 the Soviet powerstook over again and stayed until 1991. Since then Drohobychis part of independent Ukraine, founded in1991.In the middle of the 19th century substantial oil reserveswere found in neighboring Borislav, resulting in an oilboom that brought capitalists from around the world.Oil was drilled in Borislav, and refineries were built inDrohobych, which prospered considerably, along withthe neighboring spa resort town of Truskawez. BrunoSchulz, the Polish writer of Jewish descent, put Drohobychon the map of world literature with his belovedbooks, The Street of Crocodiles and The Sanatorium Underthe Sign of the Hourglass.BRUNO SCHULZ, 1892 – 1942Like Alfred Schreyer, Bruno Schulz lived most of his lifein Drohobych. He wrote two small, humble books – TheStreet of Crocodiles and The Sanatorium Under the Sign ofthe Hourglass – that today are canons of world literatureand translated into countless languages. To make aliving he worked as a drawing and carpentry teacher inthe high school of Drohobych, where he also graduated
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Page 5 and 6: The orchestra of the Komsomolez Cin
Page 7: Ceramic WorkshopBroniza WoodsFILMOG

The Last Jew from Drohobych Alfred Schreyer - rosdy film kg

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